ESPN host Sage Steele is suing the network for violating her free speech rights in retaliation for widely criticized comments she made on a podcast regarding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and former President Barack Obama. She argues ESPN and parent company Disney selectively enforce a policy barring news personnel from commenting on political or social matters based on the popularity of their positions.
“ESPN’s inconsistency in how it treated Steele as compared to her peers demonstrates that Steele was punished not only for exercising her constitutional right to free speech but because of the content of that speech,” reads the complaint filed on Wednesday in Connecticut state court. “Steele was disciplined by her employer in violation of Connecticut state law because she exercised her First Amendment right to express opinions with which ESPN and Disney do not agree.”
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In a podcast with NFL quarterback Jay Cutler, Steele in September 2021 expressed skepticism about private companies requiring employees to get vaccinated. She said the mandate was “sick” and “scary to me in many ways,” indicating that she only complied to keep her job.
“Steele also offered some frank, unguarded thoughts about media criticism and the refusal of some individuals to accept opinions unlike their own, or not in accord with those they assume are held by others based on appearance, gender, etc.,” the complaint states. “In this context, when she was asked about her experience as a biracial woman, Steele noted that Barbara Walters once challenged her (on the ABC program The View, owned by Disney) on her biracial identity.”
When asked by Walters why she doesn’t just identify as Black like Obama, Steele responded that it was “fascinating” that the former president had chosen to identify as Black despite having been raised by his white mother and grandmother. She concluded, “You do you. I’m going to do me.”
On the podcast, Steele also made comments implying that women who wear provocative clothing bear some responsibility for sexism and sexual harassment.
“When you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you put that outfit on, too,” she said. “We need to be responsible as women, too. We know what we’re doing when we put certain things on.”
According to the complaint, various news organizations “slammed Steele” by misquoting her and taking her comments out of context. Steele points to former colleague Jemele Hill, now a contributing writer for The Atlantic, calling her a “clown” for her comments.
“In a knee-jerk reaction, ESPN and Disney relied on the misleading characterizations of her comments, bowed to groupthink and forced Steele to publicly apologize and suspended her for a period of time in October 2021,” writes Steele’s attorney Bryan Freedman.
ESPN followed Steele’s apology with a statement that read in part, “We embrace different points of view — dialogue and discussion makes this place great. That said we expect that those points of view be expressed respectfully, in a manner consistent with our values, and in line with our internal policies.”
ESPN denied ever taking disciplinary action, saying in a statement: “Sage remains a valued contributor on some of ESPN’s highest profile content, including the recent Masters telecasts and anchoring our noon SportsCenter. As a point of fact, she was never suspended.”
Steele argues that ESPN didn’t do anything to rebut reports that she was suspended because it “stood to benefit from the public perception that it had punished [her] for her remarks.” She also claims ESPN continued to punish her by removing her from prime assignments, including coverage of the New York City Marathon, the Rose Parade, and the 12th annual ESPNW Summit, which she had hosted since its inception in 2010.
At the ESPNW Summit, Laura Gentile, ESPN and Disney’s executive vp commercial marketing, condemned Steele, allegedly in violation of company policy prohibiting ESPN employees from publicly making personal attacks on their colleagues, according to the complaint. She said that ESPN had “elected” to have Steele “sit this one out” as a result of her comments.
“In other words, Gentile openly admitted that ESPN was taking disciplinary action against Steele as a direct result of her constitutionally protected exercise of free speech rights,” the complaint reads. “Adding insult to injury, this was done at an event conceived to celebrate and elevate diverse female voices and perspectives.”
Steele takes issue with ESPN selectively enforcing its policy barring employees from expressing political views based on whether it agrees with their position. She points to Hill, then a SportsCenter anchor, calling former President Donald Trump a “white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists” on Twitter.
Steele also argues that ESPN condoned her colleagues publicly bullying her despite bringing the harassment to the attention of company executives. In October 2021, she spoke with ESPN senior vice president Norby Williamson about fellow SportsCenter anchor Nicole Briscoe retweeting a post from someone who said she hoped ESPN no longer had Steele cover women’s sporting events. Briscoe added, “Amen. (Even if it gets me in trouble). Amen.”
According to the complaint, the post remained on Briscoe’s account for more than three months and she faced no consequences.
“Countless ESPN employees, including Briscoe, [Dan] LeBatard when he was with the network, Sarah Spain, Mark Jones, Mina Kimes, Damien Woody, and others openly and publicly criticized Steele in direct violation of ESPN policy without any repercussions whatsoever,” the lawsuit reads. “Disney and ESPN stand by and allow Steele to be bullied and harassed, and in doing so, they punish Steele for expressing her views in exercise of her First Amendment rights.”
